The Philisophical Debate

'And so he spent the night in his, relatively, new apartment with his new computer two nights before Christmas.

 

'The next day, while his immediate and extended family, did what they usually do on Christmas Eve, with one difference, they called Eric.  And that was how Eric spent that day and the next, on the phone.  Not accomplished one damned bloody thing!'

 

"--What's going on here?" I asked my British substitute.

 

'Nothing, which is more than I can say for what you've done lately!'

 

"And what's with using apostrophes as quotation marks?"

 

'That's what we do in the land this language calls home!  You could say it "colours" my syntax,' he offered.

 

"Yeah, okay.  I spell 'theatre' correctly!  Listen, I appreciated you serving as my substitute the first week of but if I may be blunt, you were pretty harsh on us."

 

'And I hope you don't mind my bluntness, but you deserved it.'

 

"But you didn't follow the notes I gave you.  I gave you a nice travelogue of MB's visit and you turned it int--"

 

'You know that you sanitized it.  I know what really happened.'

 

I was shocked, "But--Wait!  You were spying on us?"

 

'I figured the whole exercise could be an excuse to visit some of LA's points of interest.  By the way, you should check out the Rough Guide to LA, it's an unflinchingly honest study on the good, bad, and ugly of the city for the tourist.'

 

"Duly noted," I rolled my eyes.  "Look I gave you a second chance here and you're back to your old game of sarcastic criticism."

 

'Really?  What have you done lately?' he folded his arms indignantly taunting me with his challenge while he sat back in his folding chair (okay, I don't have much furniture right now) and pretentious knitted sweater.

 

'I read that!'

 

"Sorry.  But if you'd like I could tell you just what I did this week."

 

This time it was he who rolled his eyes.

 

"Okay, I admit you got the first couple of days right enough.  But I wasn't as lonely as you made me out to be.  In fact I got invited to a party.  There was some confusion as to the address as to where it was, I went home."

 

'Ah, no doubt it was just a figment of your imagination!'

 

"Like you?"

 

'Touche.'

 

"May I continue?"  I got a patronizing gesture to indicate an affirmative answer to the request.

 

'I'm so impressed with your vocabulary.'

 

I ignored him and focused my attention on the audience--you.  I continued to speak, "But the next day I went to the movies, confident enough in my prospects for the future, I looked for a film to see."  To my companion I mentioned, "You'd be pleased to know I saw a film about Britain, 'Children of Men.' 

I went to the Grove which was at the corner of 3rd and The Grove.  It was actually Farmer's Market, a tourist attraction MB and I had failed to go to, and I'd never been to anyway.  So in that way it was a fun little surprise.  Imagine if a market, a carnival, and the Golden Triangle all had a long discussion with Faneuil Hall regarding the general design of a place that would be called Farmer's Market.

 

"The matinee actually cost $9.75, so on principal I just had to sneak into a second film.  'Children of Men,' however, deftly blended apocalyptic dystopia, environmental social commentary, immersive, gritty, war-movie action, and the darkest of black humor that only a film depicting Britain could do."

 

'You're welcome.'

 

"Funny, I don't recall your name in the credits," I shot back.  "From there I perused the market and went home.

 

"The next day, I went to IO West and did the lights and sound for their shows."

 

'I'm crackers with excitement!'

 

"Well, I liked it very much.  I'm still new enough at the internship that some of the little things tripped me up a bit, but it was fun to watch the shows.  Then on Thursday and Friday I went to my temp job scanning old files at a film production company.  And no, I'll not mention which one."

 

'Didn't you have something booked for Friday night?'

 

"Yeah, I did.  I was going to host a gig at Cal State Fullerton but that fell through, so I just decided to go to IO West to check out the open mic usually hosted by Troy Conrad.  Troy Conrad also performed as Jesus in his show 'Comedy Jesus.'  It was for this reason that he asked me to host the show, a whimsical irony in my book.

 

"I stood around the Black Box Theatre entrance and was disappointed that only one comic had shown up, and he was going to Groundworks for that show first."

 

'Ah, but you deserved that.  You used to do the same.'

 

"You're right, but eventually, four others showed up forty-five minutes after the show was to start and we just started sharing stories in the classroom/theatre space."

 

'--like it was AA?'

 

"Well we actually did a show.  I jokingly asked if one of them wanted to tell some jokes and he took me up on it, so I adjusted the lights and introduced him to the other two comics.  I then introduced the other three and we had a go of it.  It turned out pretty well, not unlike how the show usually goes, only with about one fourth the comics.  So you see?  I did something this week."

 

'But let's look at this year.  How long have you been out here?--and only now you've gotten a job?--and it's a temp job?  Bangup work mate.'

 

"I think this year was an incredible one.  I started it out in Boston joining some of my best comedy friends in a sketch group at their invitation.  I joined the cast of 'Erin Judge Presents...' which included Arielle Goldman, Andrea Henry, Josh Gondelman, Liz Simons, and Erin Judge.  For the next several months I grew as a writer and performer of sketch in a group that concentrated on character-based comedy.  While we definitely had our share of the absurd in our shows, ours was a brand of comedy heavier in satire, both of our own personas and society at large."

 

'You weren't curing cancer,' his eyes rolled.

 

"I can get bit carried away.  But through the advice of my friends I decided to get out of Boston and move to LA to see if there was a future in television.  Everything in Boston was focused to that end.  I took a Meisner acting class in which I learned about reacting to scene partners, and its applications to work in performance.  I continued to save money for the move and--"

 

'Ah but that's where your problem was.  Let me repeat myself, you took far longer to get some kind of decent work once you did move out here!  You very nearly failed!  In fact it was only within the past couple of weeks you got some relief, and it wasn't just from getting your job.  There was a deux ex machina in place!'

 

"How dare you!  What, my new laptop?"

 

'And you've spent much of your time trotting about, especially one particular week I documented in detail...you're welcome.  This behaviour is indicative of your philosophy this whole year, bullocks, it's informed your whole life up to and including this very moment!'

 

"All of the experiences you refer to only enriched me."

 

'And where are you creatively?'

 

"Have you know ears, or er--eyes with which to spy my typing over my shoulder?  My new job, even if it is temporary, is but one cog in the machine that is my set of long-term career goals.  Similarly, I have a new internship working the sound and light at a theatre I've come to regard as a kind of home out here.  This internship goes towards several more classes in which I'll learn more about performance and writing and storytelling.  I grant you I'm not perfect, but I'm making progress and I'll tell you something else: me moving out here was a positive influence on me because it was the kick-in-the-butt I needed to get moving with some of my goals in this business.  I left behind my home, and all the people I love, but here I've also made new friends out here and am looking forward to see what 2007 will bring.  Thank you for your thoughts but I'll handle it from here."  I turned away and walked out of the room, turned down the hall and looked at the door labeled "2007" and opened it.  There I found--

 

Thank you, I'm Eric Cheung.  I'm on MySpace and Live Journal.

 

Upcoming gigs

January 4th:  Thursday.  9pm.  Karma Coffee House.  "Organic Comedy."  Hosted by Rich Kuras.  FREE.